Ricardo Machado is the new owner of it all: 7,300 ha, of which 1,200 ha are tourist hunting grounds reserved for famous national and international hunters during the period allotted for hunting big game such as deer, fallow deer, mouflon, corsair or wild boar . .

This is Herdade do Vale Feitoso, the largest gated private property in Portugal and one of the giants of the Iberian Peninsula.

Located in Idanha a Nova, Castelo Branco area, it was bought by the Espírito Santo (GES) group in 2004 and converted by the Salgado into a kind of family estate, a place for parties and hunting with friends.

Meanwhile, the GES collapsed and the owner of the Companhia Agrícola de Penha Garcia estate, named after a village in Idanha with just over 500 inhabitants, went bankrupt.

The BES heir later seized these assets and the company was declared insolvent in February 2017, during which Novo Banco demanded a €53.3 million loan.

Since the end of 2018, the bankrupt Peña Garcia estate has been promoting various sale procedures with successive price reviews, as it was sold to a real estate investment fund owned by the Spanish group Tenigla last year.

Purchase for an amount “far in excess” of the 20.7 million paid by the Spaniards.

Herdade do Vale Feitoso has now passed into the hands of Ricardo Machado at a price “well in excess” of the €20.7 million paid by the Spaniards, the Portuguese businessman assured Negosios, without disclosing the exact value of the deal.

Machado assures that he will “support the entire investment plan of 50 million euros” that the Spanish group announced for Vale Feitoso, making it a “self-sustaining estate”, as its goal is to bet “on the acquisition of more forest areas”. “.” in our country.

With the acquisition of the former estate of Espírito Santo, the Portuguese businessman, who has succeeded in business projects in several African countries, intends to “follow a plan to reorient the geographical presence of his investment portfolio, reducing his presence on the African continent and increasing the stakes on Europe and, in particular, on Portugal,” Machado explains in a note sent to Negosius.

In the context of this territorial reorientation strategy, the Portuguese businessman adds that “he sold his assets in the multilateral bank Afreximbank and in a commercial bank in Ghana, including other real estate assets, some of which are related to retail, which he owned in the same African country. “.

Its aim, he says, “is to continue and expand the Herdade do Vale Feitoso transformation project that the Spaniards started and which includes a combination of stakes in forestry and livestock, tourism and hunting.”

The project adds to other investments Machado says he already has in Portugal, “in the centre, in the south and in the islands, in agri-food, tourism and energy areas.”

Millionaire lawsuit against General Electric and the state of Angola

Meanwhile, Ricardo Leitao Machado and his company AEnergy are “continuing several litigations in civil and arbitration courts in the US, UK, Switzerland and Angola against the US group General Electric and the Republic of Angola.”

Machado is holding them “for breach of contract, fraud and non-contractual damages related to 13 contracts and investment projects in Angola worth US$1.2 billion that were unilaterally terminated by the Angolan state, including the subsequent illegal expropriation of equipment and other assets.” Aenergy,” he accuses.

On this occasion, last April it became known that the US justice refused to consider the case initiated by AEnergy against the Angolan state, so now the case will be considered in Luanda.

On May 7 last year, the company filed a lawsuit in New York Federal Court against the American company General Electric and the government of Angola, seeking compensation of about $550 million (more than $539.3 million) for termination of contracts.

The case concerns 13 contracts signed between Aenergy and the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (Minea) in 2017 for the construction, expansion, conversion, operation and maintenance of power plants in Angola.

This is a civil lawsuit filed by Aenergy, owned by Ricardo Leitao Machado, and its subsidiary Soyo SA combined cycle power plant against Minea, the Ministry of Finance, Empresa Pública de Produção de Eletricidade (ENDE) and the National Electricity Distribution Company (Prodel), named ” Angolan Defendants” and against three General Electric (GE) corporations, a former commercial partner of the prosecutor.

Aenergy’s original indictment in New York Federal Court, filed in May 2021, charges the “Angola defendants” with eight offenses, including two offenses of termination of contract, one of illicit enrichment, two of breaking the law (physical and intangible assets) and the crime of illegal expropriation.

Aenergy has been embroiled in a dispute with Angola since Angola’s chief executive terminated several contracts with the company in 2019, alleging a breach of trust due to alleged breaches, allegations the company denies, ensuring it warned Minea and completed several projects. without receiving payment.

(News updated at 18:48)